The Past and Hidden Powers
by Annu B
Summary: Azaria Zabini wants to be separate from the prejudices of the Dark Wars and as a result, is friends with the Potter-Weasleys. However, she and her best friend Melody are in danger because they have powers that make them targets when Dark Forces strike.
1. Chapter 1: A Gryffin's Feather

**A/N: I have been writing this story as it came to me, and so it is kind of disjointed right now. Putting it into coherent chapters will probably take awhile, so I am sorry for the delays that are inevitably to come. This is my first Harry Potter fanfic, and I hope it lives up to the standards I set for other people. James Sirius Potter is my favorite Next Generation character, because we all know he will be awesome! **

**As usual, I lament the fact that this book and its character do not belong to me. Why can't I be Jo?**

**Love you all,**  
><strong>Annu B<strong>

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><p>A Griffin's Feather<p>

It was one of those nights. My dream was so vivid and so realistic that it took me a minute to realize it was a dream. They were always from my point of view, and in this one I was sitting in my room, reading a book, and an owl tapped on my window. The letter was addressed to me in a slanting scrawl. But before I opened the letter, the dream changed again. I was in a room at an unfamiliar house, doing the dishes, and as I quickly turned around I only managed to walk a few steps before running into something warm and solid. I lost my balance, but a pair of arms wrapped around my waist, steadying me. I looked up at the person I ran into and suddenly I was looking straight into a pair of hazel eyes. My breath caught, but I couldn't see anything else because the scene shifted. Now I was walking into St. Mungo's with my sister and cousin. My cousin asked for a room as my arm was around my sister, and my cousin grabbed my hand as we walked to the lift. My cousin and my sister looked older, at least fourteen, and I felt older too. We got to the room, and though my dream self felt horribly sad and worried, I didn't go in, pausing to talk to my cousin, while the scene blurred as it switched to one of me sitting at a table in a diner or restaurant somewhere with seven other people. Three were redheads, though to different degrees, one was a blonde, two (who were clearly twins) had brown hair, and one had black hair darker than mine, with darker skin too. I didn't recognize anyone, the scene changed before I could study them more closely, to a scene of me running through a forest. In the dream I was tired, scared, and very worried for someone. I was clutching a wand, and I could see a clearing up ahead with people in it. A girl was lying on the ground, her robes torn and blonde hair dirty. "Mel!" I thought, and as I ran toward the clearing, I woke in a sweat.

I looked around at the familiar surroundings of my room, and relaxed slightly. The dream I had that night was the same as I had been having for the past week, except it combined every scene I had seen previously. The other dreams were shorter, and less real, but that night they had been strung together in a long chain, that left me curious, but confused. I grabbed a towel and went into my bathroom to take a shower. I put on my favorite pair of denim Capri's (a farewell to summer, thank Merlin my parents let me dress like a Muggle) and a green t-shirt with a white dragon on it. I brushed out my hair, which fell a few inches past my shoulders, and put on my snake necklace. I was ready. Today was the day. I was going to Hogwarts.

I walked over to my closet and pulled out a white and black sweatshirt, and my sneakers. I pulled on my sweatshirt, tugged on some socks, and laced up my shoes. I was fully ready when I sat on my bed. Only then did I think to look at my watch. It was only seven o'clock. I sniggered. At the Zabini Estate people didn't usually get up before eight, but I was totally hyper. I decided that I had been too nice this summer and went to wake up my _darling_ older brother. I snuck out of my green room and headed for the blue room, my brother's room. I tiptoed past my parents' door, and opened his slowly. I went over to his bed, leaned over his ear, and screamed.

"BLAKE SILAS ZABINI!" He yelled in response, and fell out of bed on his poor thirteen year old tushie. I chuckled.

"WHAT?" He shouted.

"Morning!" I said brightly, grinning at him.

"Merlin," he muttered. "Why her? Why, oh why, did you make _her_ my sister?" I giggled.

"'Cuz you love me," I said innocently. He laughed, but at that moment, I heard a large person thumping down the hall. It was my dad.

"AZARIA GRACE ZABINI!" he roared. "WHY DID YOU SO RUDELY WAKE UP YOUR BROTHER THIS EARLY IN THE MORNING? NOT TO MENTION YOUR MOTHER, SISTER AND I?"

"Come on, Daddy, I was just excited, it's September 1st, and Blakie here doesn't seem too upset." My dad grinned slightly at my nickname for my brother. My brother scowled; he hated it.

"Well fine, but no more, understand?" I nodded, just as my mother walked in steaming, trailed by my sister.

"BLAISE TYRELL ZABINI! WHY ARE YOU YELLING AT SEVEN IN THE MORNING?" Blake and I sniggered, while our dad was at a loss for words. He floundered for an answer until finally Mum took pity, and laughed. "Alright then, an early start it is." We all grinned. While my family went to get ready, I sat with my new wand in hand, and looked at it. Mr. Ollivander had said it was_ very_ special, and that the core wasn't dragon heartstring, unicorn hair, or even phoenix feather. It was the feather of a _griffin_. I grinned ecstatically, many of my parents friends said I was different. They all liked me, said I was a very proper girl, and thought me cute, with my eyes making a mixture of dark brown and light green eyes into a rich forest green. Though green eyes _were _a Greengrass tradition, I owe that to my mom. My eyes had inherited the intense, dark quality of my father's, something I wasn't aware of at the time. But everyone seemed to have a tendency to like me, my mom said I was charismatic and charming, and I just accepted it and the benefits. While I twirled my wand, I thought about the visit to Diagon Alley earlier that month.

_We had left at around nine in the morning, right after breakfast. I had been looking forward to it for ages, and I was hyper the whole morning. We drove to London, up to the Leaky Cauldron. Diagon Alley wasn't very crowded, and we'd had breakfast at the Leaky Cauldron. Dad had become friends with Tom, the innkeeper, after the war. I loved my omelet, and then we had left to go to Gringotts. The goblins took us to our vault, and we got to ride on the roller coaster cart, as Blake, Camilla and I called it. After withdrawing some money, Dad had taken us to Flourish and Blotts and I got all my new textbooks, along with a Muggle book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, for Callista. My mom had recommended it to her, and she was looking forward to reading it. We had then set off to the Apothecary, and the stationary shop, where I got stationary with swirls of green roses on it. We went to Madam Malkin's, where I got all my school robes and my parents got some for work. I hugged my mom ecstatically when she promised me a pet and grinned at my dad. Blake just rolled his eyes and I laughed. Then we went to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes with Mom, while Dad went to the Cauldron shop. He never went into WWW, and I wondered why._

_We then stopped in at the Magical Menagerie, as promised. The smell was overwhelming. I talked with my mom, and we agreed that a cat was better, since I could always borrow Blake's owl or a school one. I looked at the cats they had there. I saw many black cats, some tabbies, a few calicos, two white kittens, and one small grey kitten. The black ones all had blue eyes, and the rest had yellow eyes; except for the grey one. The grey one had green eyes. I picked it up. The kitten pawed at me and I smiled. I checked it, and found out it was a girl. I looked back in her face. She looked into my eyes, and I noticed her were the same color as mine. I had to have her. I brought my parents over, and they agreed to buy her. _

_After we had gone into every other shop possible, we finally stepped into Ollivander's. The dusty old shop had very little light coming in through the windows, but that just gave it a mysterious mood. The shelves that took up the shop were stocked with thousands of long, thin boxes that housed wands, and an old man came in from the back. _

_"Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Zabini, what a pleasure," he greeted. He then turned his scrutinizing gaze on me. "You must be young Ms. Zabini." I just nodded. Ollivander blathered on about this and that to my parents as he walked around the shelves. He began muttering. "...ivy...13 inches...Runespoor fang...like her father...maybe...alder...unicorn hair...what if...the experiments...the willow...11 inches." All this time a magic tape measure had been measuring my arms, legs, face, and pretty much every part of me. He returned with about twenty-five wands, and my parents motioned for me to try one. I picked up the case closest to me, opened it, and pulled out a wand. _

_"Birch, 12 inches, unicorn hair." Ollivander told me. I nodded, and waved it, nothing much happened, I sighed. I picked up the second. "Ivy, 10 inches, dragon heartstring – go on." I repeated the wave, again nothing. I grabbed the next, and so the process continued. On the nineteenth wand (I had been counting) something finally happened. While I lifted the wand, I felt a warm tingling feeling all the way down to my fingertips. Green and gold sparks shot out of my wand. And, yes, I'll admit it, I squealed. _

_"Odd," murmured Ollivander, "13 inches, willow, griffin feather. An experimental wand." I grinned, I was special. My parents looked kind of startled, my dad a little upset, but I let it pass. I was too busy bouncing around while my parents purchased to notice my dad's big bulky new package. When we had left Diagon Alley to return to where we had parked, I skipped the whole way, and even annoyed Camilla. At the car, everyone had got in, but my dad didn't start the car. _

"_Azaria, while you were in the Weasleys' shop, I went out and got you something." I looked at him excitedly, after all, who doesn't love presents? "I got you a Firebolt 360." I gasped. _

"_Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can't believe this!"_

"_Yeah, me neither, she's a first year, how come she gets a broom?" My brother asked. _

"_We got _you_ one last year."_

"_Still…"I laughed at my brother. He was just upset I got a Firebolt 360 and he had a Nimbus 3000. I didn't see his problem, they weren't very different. Camilla just rolled her eyes at Blake. She wasn't really one for Quidditch. Blake recovered on the way home and we all did our usual stuff. Camilla started reading her book, I started drawing, and Blake began to talk to my dad about Quidditch. _

My new cat jumped up onto my lap, interrupting my memory. I giggled and stroked her under her chin. "What am I going to name you, kitty?" She mewed at me, eyes widening, the green brightening. I laughed at her. "You have quite the puppy dog eyes, don't you? Maybe I should call you something to do with your eyes. What about Iris?" She mewed again and began to purr. I laughed. "I'll take that as a yes." She leaped off my lap and onto the floor. I got up as well, and walked downstairs to get my breakfast.

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><p><strong>So, you know the drill, Review! Also, I enjoy reading reviews having to do with plot, since they inspire me a lot. Criticism is welcome, and so are flames, but after reading, they will be sent to my friend who will use them to fuel the fires of hell! No seriously, though, my friend took over hell. Lucifer was SO mad! We forgave him though, and now he trains the dragons.<strong>  
><strong>Psshh! Crazy? I'm not crazy! Hey, wait, what's that needle for?<strong>

**And my awesome quote of the chapter is: Man does not control his own fate. The women in his life do that for him. Groucho Marx**** ;)**


	2. Chapter 2: Chocolate Frogs

**A/N: Hello all! So, it's been forever since I've updated, and I'm sorry, but such is life. Good things to those who wait and all that. So yeah, here's the second chapter, and I'm sorry it took so long. I'm such a procrastinator! If you have any plot suggestions, feel free to share, though my storyline is pretty set. I will happily take any scenario requests. For example, if character A and character B were to kiss, how would you want it to go?**

**Sigh. Not Jo, am I, loves?  
><strong>

**Love you all,**  
><strong>Annu B<strong>

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><p>We arrived at King's Cross fifteen minutes before the train left and I quickly dashed through the barrier with my parents. The platform was crowded, everyone busy putting luggage on the train and double checking everything. My family and I went through the same thing. Blake helped me find an empty compartment where we stashed our stuff, and we came back out to say goodbye. My mom was looking teary, and my dad was gruff-voiced as they wished me good luck in the year. I was a little sad, but mostly excited, as I hugged them both and promised to write weekly. Blake and I each got last-minute hugs before boarding and we promised Camilla great stories.<p>

When we got on, we sat in our compartment, and waved out the window until our parents disappeared around the bend in the tracks. I plopped down in a seat across from Blake, shaking my leg.

"Excited?" He asked, grinning. I nodded, smiling as well. "Good. Hogwarts is lots of fun, Ria, you'll love it."

"Thanks, Blake," I said, grateful for the reassurance. He nodded, and smiled at a blonde-haired girl as she walked in.

"Hi, can I sit here?" She asked us. We nodded, and Blake helped her put her trunk on the rack. "My name's Melody, this is my first year." I smiled.

"This is my first year too, my name's Azaria, and this is my brother Blake. He's a third year." She nodded at him, and took the seat next to me. Her bright blue eyes examined me, and she smiled when I asked if she wanted to play Exploding Snap.

"Sure, I love that game!" We were about to play when the door opened again. Two other girls walked in, lugging their trunks. One had dark curly red hair, slightly dark skin, lots of freckles, and blue eyes. The other had dark skin, darker than mine, black hair, and brown eyes. They also asked if they could sit down, and as we agreed, they introduced themselves.

"Hi, I'm Callista Jordan; this is my first year here." Said the darker one.

"I'm Roxanne Weasley, my first year too." I grinned at her name.

"Nice to meet you. This is Melody, and my name is Azaria, we're first years too. My brother Blake here is a third year. Roxanne, how closely are you related to George Weasley?" She looked a bit startled at my question.

"He's my dad," she said hesitantly. I grinned.

"Wow, you're so lucky, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes is so cool!" She grinned and nodded.

"Well, yeah, it is, but don't you want to know if I can get you my Aunt Hermione, Aunt Ginny, Uncle Ron, or Uncle Harry's autograph?" I laughed.

"Not really, they're probably sick of that kind of stuff, I know I'd be miffed by now." She and Callista laughed.

"Yeah, they are," she told me, as Blake stood.

"Looks like you found people to hang out with, Ria, so here I take my leave," he said, tugging his luggage off the rack. I hugged him quickly.

"Thanks for hanging around, Blake." He hugged me back, grinned at me, said bye, and walked off to find his friends. We had got cards out to deal a round of Exploding Snap when Roxanne delayed the game by stating a conversation with me.

"It was really nice of your brother to hang around until you found other people to sit with. Don't get me wrong, I love all my cousins, but we are all ages, so I mostly hang out with my doof of a brother, who, unlike yours, has abandoned me. Probably for my cousin James." The door slid open after she said this, and two boys stood in the doorway.

"Not so!" said one who looked very like Roxanne, with the same hair, skin and eyes. "James and I just got sidetracked by a couple things; I was following you this whole time!" The other one grinned, and nodded.

"It's true Roxy; it's mostly my fault anyways." She rolled her eyes.

"When is it not your fault, James?" She asked the boy with dark copper-colored hair, tan skin, and a light dusting of freckles. He laughed.

"When I can manage to pin the blame on someone else." At this we all laughed, and I decided to introduce myself.

"Hi, I'm Azaria Zabini; this is my first year here." Mel caught on too, and introduced herself.

"My name's Melody, first year too." Once again, no last name.

"Well, hi. I'm Fred Weasley, the wonderfully witty twin brother of Roxy here," said the one who was indeed very similar looking to Roxanne.

"I'm James, the devilishly handsome cousin of Fredwin and Roxanne, nice to meet you two." Said the coppery haired one, as Fred exclaimed, "My name is not Fredwin, it's Fred, you dolt!" We all laughed again, and finally got the chance to play a round of Exploding Snap (which Fred lost, and nearly caught on fire in the process). Then the door opened again, revealing two people I actually knew, for once.

"Hi Lorcan. Hi Lysander." I greeted the Scamander twins. I had met them a few times at parties my family had been to for the ministry. They nodded at me in a friendly manner.

"Hi Azaria, how's it going?"

"Good, do you want to sit with us?" They accepted and sat next to James and Fred. We all sat and talked about Hogwarts and stories we had heard until the trolley came. We all jumped up to buy ourselves some candy, and I bought four of my favorites: Chocolate Frogs. As I was eating them I examined the cards I had gotten. One was James Potter, another Sirius Black, the third Remus Lupin, and the last was Fred Weasley. I smiled at heroes of the two Dark Wars. James, who was sitting next to me, saw which cards I had and grinned.

"Hey, it's me!" I laughed, shoving him lightly.

"No it's not. This guy is much more devilishly handsome than you are." James laughed.

"Eww, that's my grandfather you're talking about!" I laughed too.

"I know, I'm just teasing you," I said. "It must be amazing to be named after him." James looked at me questioningly. "He's a war hero, and supposedly a great person." I elaborated.

"Yeah, well, I _do _enjoy being named after the two greatest pranksters of all time!"

"You aren't named after Dad and Uncle Fred!" Fred exclaimed. James shoved him as I laughed.

"I meant my grandfather and Sirius you doof!" James said.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"My full name is James Sirius Potter," he told me. "Sirius Black was my dad's godfather, and I'm also named after him," I nodded.

"That's really cool. I think it'd be really cool to be named after people who were great people like James Potter and Sirius Black."

"Are you named after anyone?" James asked me. I shook my head.

"Nope. I am Azaria Zabini the one and only!" I joked. James laughed. That was how James became one of my best friends. As the train ride wore on, I met all of Fred, Roxy and James' older cousins that were at Hogwarts. It was a bit overwhelming and somewhat intimidating to meet so many older people, but they were all nice. I met: Victoire (a sixth year) and Dominique (a third year), who insisted I call them Vicky and Dom because French names are a mouthful; their younger brother, Louis (a second year); and Molly (a fifth year) and Lucy (a fourth year), who both had bright red ringlets. I also met other family of my new friends, such as Callista's brother Leo Jordan (a second year) and James' godbrother Teddy Lupin (a seventh year).

After I had met all these new people, and they had all cleared out, we kicked the guys out into the hallway so we could change into our school robes. As soon as all the ties were straight, belts tight, and socks folded, we let the guys in and waited in the hallway for them to finish changing. It was at this point in time that I began to get nervous. I knew most of my new friends would likely be sorted into Gryffindor, but as a Zabini, I didn't expect to be. I hoped for Ravenclaw, and not Slytherin, though my brother was a Slytherin. I wanted to be separate from my family's history, and being in Slytherin would ruin any and all chances of that. Melody was also looking a little green and I stood next to her in silence. Eventually she turned to me.

"Azaria‒" I cut her off.

"Call me Ria," I said with a smile. She nodded.

"Ria, then. Will you still be my friend after the sorting ceremony?" She asked me. I looked at her, startled.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well‒" she started, but was cut off by Fred yelling for us to come back in. Once inside, I motioned for her to continue, but she just shook her head and stayed silent. I was confused, and eyed her worriedly. _What could make me not want to be friends with her? Why was she so worried?_

The rest of the train ride passed uneventfully, though I continued to worry about Mel, as she got more and more silent the closer we got to Hogwarts. She was pale and mute by the time we stepped off the train. I heard a voice calling:

"Firs' years over here! Firs' years!" It was the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Hagrid. He grinned down at our clump.

"James! Fred! Roxy! I was wonderin' if I'd be able to find yeh. Though with all that Weasley hair, I shouldna had a doubt!" They laughed. "And is that Lorcan and Lysander I see?" The Scamander twins nodded, also smiling. "This'll be a fun year then, eh?"

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><p><strong>I will not pester you all for reviews, because that would be hypocritical of me, I never leave any. But, they would be appreciated, since I like to know that people read my story and have opinions on it. <strong>

**And my awesome quote of the chapter is: If you say, "Pay me or I'll suffocate you," it's a threat. If you put your hands over their mouth and nose and say, "I'll sell you oxygen!" it's a sales tactic.  
>I made that one up. :P<br>**


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